Image of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. (www.commons.wikimedia.org)

TRANSCRIPT:
I have mentioned a lot of negatives in these first few podcast episodes. Not enough women in art education, not enough unbiased art criticism about women’s art, not enough of anything, and on and on. We live in a time where these negatives are prevalent and hard to escape. It can be easy to get discouraged. Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to women and art. It starts with safe, supportive spaces that are inclusive of the art of women and minorities.
One such space is the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I first went there this January with my boyfriend and his mom. After we made our way through the cold Washington D.C. weather and into the marble interior of the museum, I knew I would not want to leave for a long time. The interior was beautiful – reminiscent of all of the extremely well funded, mainstream museums that house mostly art by men. For me, there was a sudden feeling of belonging as I began to look around at all of the art created by women. Not personal belonging, but a feeling of belonging for all women. A “we made it” kind of feeling. While some thought that founding a museum just for women’s art would make a “ghetto” of their work, and others thought there was “no such thing as women’s art,” the NMWA’s founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay fought past this criticism (Holladay and Kopper 52). Holladay and her husband had been collecting art since the 60s, and when prompted to choose a focus for their collection, the Holladays decided to “aim to show women’s contribution to the history of art” (“Our History,” Holladay and Kopper 23). The National Museum of Women in the Arts is more than a safe place for women artists. It is a safe place to educate others about female artists and the difficulties they faced. When we left the museum that day, my boyfriend’s mom turned to me and said, “I’m glad you had the idea to go there. It was amazing. Can you imagine being a female artist during those times? It would have been nearly impossible.”
Another safe space for women artists is the A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1972, A.I.R. Gallery was the “ first not-for-profit, artist-directed and maintained gallery for women artists in the United States” (“A Short History”). A.I.R. is short for Artists in Residence. Women artists at A.I.R. create and curate their own shows and are encouraged to experiment. A.I.R. also promotes feminist values and emphasizes community involvement through internships, performances, and discussions (“A Short History”). Also located in New York is the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, housed in the Brooklyn Museum. It is the permanent location of Judy Chicago’s piece, The Dinner Party, which I mentioned in the last episode. According to their website, their “mission is to raise awareness of feminism’s cultural contributions, to educate new generations about the meaning of feminist art, and to maintain a dynamic and welcoming learning environment” (“About”). Hopefully, in the future, more art institutions will have missions like these.
For some institutions, this future is already coming. For example, the Venice Biennale, a world-renowned and highly esteemed art show, hired French curator Christine Macel this year to direct the 57th Biennale. She is the fourth woman to curate the exhibition in 122 years (“Christine Macel”). The Museum of Modern Art in New York has also taken big strides when it comes to representing more work by women. MoMA published a book in 2014 called Modern Women: Women Artists at the Museum of Modern Art, which “explores the work of over three hundred women artists represented in the Museum's collection” (“The Book”). There are also women establishing themselves in public spaces, such as Maya Lin. When Lin was a just 20 year-old graduate student at Yale, her design was chosen for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Washington, D.C. (“Maya Lin’s”). Obviously, women have been reclaiming and establishing safe spaces for their art for decades and will continue to do so.
An important point I want to cover in this episode is how art spaces that are not so woman-friendly can change their ways, and how you, if you own or work for one of these spaces, can influence a move toward equal gender representation. The first step is research. Learn as much as you can about the women artists that have been underrepresented throughout history. I encourage you to use the resources from these podcast episodes to start. The second thing you need to do is simple – you need to look. Look at all of the labels next to the artwork hanging on gallery walls. How many of the artists are women? In many cases, this answer will be “not many.” The third step is a little more difficult. You need to talk. Talk to whomever you can at the gallery or museum, and open a discussion with them about the gender representation in their institution. Mention your research and the benefits of educating the public about art through the lens of gender equality. Perhaps the person you are talking to will be interested in what you are saying, and hopefully, you will influence a place to become a safe space for women artists.
Whether it is a huge, federally funded museum or a small, locally funded gallery, I hope this episode has inspired you to create a dialogue with the art institutions that you know and love. I have given you a few examples of woman-friendly art spaces. Use them as inspiration, and think of them when you need to stay positive about women in the art world. The art world is changing, and you can push it to change for the better and become more inclusive.